Columnists

BY DAVID SHRIBMAN
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Ordinarily, the jockeying for the White House begins slowly, with whispered conversations and closed-door meetings. The early commitments come slowly, and all parties know they are tentative and mostly secret. …

BY JEFF GERRITT
DEPUTY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Theodore Twigg of Holland was headed for prison. A 37-year-old heroin addict, he was locked up in the Lucas County jail on Jan. 20, facing a five-year sentence for breaking-and-entering and fleeing from a police officer. …

BY DAVID KUSHMA
BLADE EDITOR
It was the kind of early-spring day — frigid, snow-dusted, drearily gray — that might cause a newcomer to Toledo from the Sun Belt to reconsider her decision to move here. …

BY DAVID SHRIBMAN
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
WASHINGTON — There are rare moments in history when Americans have sought the comfort of experience over the excitement of novelty. Our first five presidents were established figures, familiar and experienced, and steeped in the values of the Revolution and the Constitution. …

BY MARINA BOLOTNIKOVA
BLADE COLUMNIST
Sixty years ago, Robert Putnam earned spending money as a paperboy for The Blade in Port Clinton. Today, he is one of the best-regarded political scientists in the country. …

BY JACK LESSENBERRY
BLADE OMBUDSMAN
Several readers grumbled that The Blade seemed to be showing favoritism by anointing Sandy Drabik, the widow of late Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins, as Toledo’s possible next mayor. …